Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Wendy Ide

Spaceman review – Adam Sandler is adrift in outer space with a comfort spider

Adam Sandler as Jakub in Spaceman.
Adam Sandler as Jakub in Spaceman. Photograph: Netflix

An astronaut who is just over six months into a solo mission to investigate a mysterious galactic phenomenon, Jakub (a tortured, reined-in performance from Adam Sandler) is ill-placed to deal with the breakdown of his marriage to his pregnant wife, Lenka (Carey Mulligan), left behind on Earth. Fortunately, an alien spider with the voice of Paul Dano and all the wisdom of the universe has stowed away on the vessel and offers Jakub ad hoc therapy sessions.

Jakub and his (possibly imaginary) emotional support arachnid drift aimlessly towards some kind of nebulous insight, accompanied by a score that sounds like the kind of formless ambient wafting that gets piped into a floatation tank. Spaceman is a fascinatingly odd premise let down by its drab, dispiritingly inert execution.

Watch a trailer for Spaceman.
Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.